Dr. Ted Stankowich

And the vast majority had a really strong hesitation of, what is that?

Like, that is something new.

That's bold.

That's striped.

What is that?

Some never even ate the food off those plates.

Others, those models had a sprayer so we could spray them in the face with skunk oil when they attacked the plates.

And some got sprayed one time in the face by skunk oil and never again went back.

Yeah.

Some got sprayed nine times and kept going back for food.

So there's lots of variation in willingness to attack boldly colored animals.

And so...

I think the answer to your question is there's both an innate aspect to it and a learned aspect to it.

Yes.

If you notice spikes or spines, if they are strong, dangerous spines, they tend to be black and white.

So porcupine quills tend to be striated black and white.

Those are warning signals.

You're telling the predator not to do that.

And most wild predators will not attack black and white spiky animals because they know.

Your dogs are not quite as intelligent as wild predators are.